Camping
by Kuragari Kagirinai
Summary: Schools out for the seniors: Axel, Roxas and Demyx. The trio is tired of being harassed by parents to get a job, and decide to go camping for a couple weeks, just to get away…! Happy 8/13!


Schools out for the seniors: Axel, Roxas and Demyx. The trio is tired of being harassed by parents to get a job, and decide to go camping for a couple weeks, just to get away…! Happy 8/13

**A/N: **Written for AkuRoku day! I'm complete surprised I actually finished it _on time_ AND it's been through beta AND well… it was written in three days, two very sleepless nights and fifty gallons of sweet tea later. So if it sucks well… Frankly I don't care anymore, haha.

**Warnings: **Some mild cursing, I tried to tone it down. Luxord bashing, I just had to. Sora acts like a child, oh well. Riku might as well not exist, in this fic at least, haha. A slight lack of creative flair, maybe, not sure. Aaaannnd finally, lack of back story or super intense plot line, it's a one-shot for a reason. :)

Without further adieu, enjoy!

oOo

"Roxas!" the blond groaned and set down his game controller. They'd been out of school now for a week; graduation was in three days and all his mother ever did was nag, nag, nag, naaaag. Honestly it was annoying. And it all was because he didn't have a job yet. His older brother Luxord was a troll that lived in the basement, yet she never said a word to him. Nope! See, Luxord worked at the nearby casino… twice a week. It was retarded.

"Yes mother?" he called out in a mockingly sweet tone.

The bedroom door flung open, his mother stood in the doorway hands on her hips and a fury in her eyes. "Listen to me young man," she began, "You're eighteen now, and you should have a job while you wait for spring classes to start up. Earn some money and stop being a…"

Roxas tuned her out from there. It was the same thing every morning. Roxas do this, Roxas do that, Roxas enlist yourself into slavery for the rest of your life while I sit back and laugh. And she probably would too.

"Yeah, yeah, I know," the blond teen said at last, "I promise I'll start looking for a job after graduation, okay?"

She gave a curt nod and left. Roxas sighed and resumed smashing in the skulls of poorly animated zombies.

oOo

"Now Axel, honey, don't you think it's about time you got yourself a job?" Axel stared blankly at his mom who was seated comfortably in a chair across from the couch he'd decided to lethargically sprawl on. He knew what was coming, and he honestly didn't mind. It was so easy to talk his mom in and out of almost anything.

The redhead teenager scratched his stomach – grinning in accomplishment as his mom made a face, "A job?" he asked finally, "Why?"

She shrugged, her outlandishly red hair swayed with the movement, "Isn't that what most young men your age do? Go out in the work force, and I'm not saying full time, because honey, you have school. But you know, self improvement, get a work history, money?"

"Uh, that's great and all…" Axel muttered, his eyes flicking back to the T.V., it was so much more interesting, "But I don't think I'm ready to obligate myself to something like a job yet."

His mom sighed, "I understand, but you can't always depend on your father and me to support you forever."

Axel grinned, "Of course not mom! I'll only allow you to support me for as long as you'd like to!" Hook, line, and sinker. Axel's mom nodded and left the room with a smile. Axel knew if she had her way she'd support her baby boy until he was rolling in his grave if she could.

Damn he loved his parents sometimes.

oOo

"Demyx, son, I'm so proud of you!"

Demyx stopped in the doorway of the entrance to the house. What was going on this time? The confused blond teen wondered, and why did his dad always have to start being all mushy whenever he was about to walk in the house? The neighbors could _see_.

"Uh, what'd I do?" he asked, his hand still on the open door's handle. He was pretty sure he hadn't done anything of importance for the past couple days, but okay.

His dad walked up to him and gave him a quick, manly hug. "My son is graduating high school in three days!" he smiled and placed a hand on Demyx's shoulder, "You do realize that you're the first man in the family to do so? Congratulations!"

Demyx laughed nervously, trying to take a quick peek behind him to make sure no one was watching, "Yeah! I'm really uh, uhmmm… I'm really focused on doing good stuff!" he said lamely. This was completely awkward. The only reason he'd stayed in school was because of Axel and Roxas. They wouldn't let him drop out of school and join a band that he'd wanted to at the time. And it was a good thing he didn't, turned out the band was a total flop anyway.

"Damn straight," his father grinned proudly, "I bet with that diploma of yours you can get plenty of gigs and whatnot. Make your dream of being a musician come true."

The blond had to urge to roll his eyes. He'd thought the exact same thing a few weeks ago, until Roxas had set him straight. Just because he got his diploma it didn't magically make everything happen for him. He still had to work for everything he wanted and blah, blah, blah, Roxas always talked too much when he knew something you didn't. "Yeah dad, it's awesome."

Suddenly his dad made an 'O' shape with his mouth. Oh no, he had an idea. "How 'bout me an' you go out sometime after your graduation and look around for some gigs and stuff?"

Oh no, no, no, noooo—hoooo! How mortifying would that be? Demyx shook his head hastily, "No! I-I mean, no can do dad! Rox, Axel and I have something planned after graduation," he blurted out, not bothering to stop and think about anything he was saying, "And uh, we'll be gone for a week or two, you know, male bonding… yeah."

His dad set his son with a blank stare, "What're you going to be doing for so long?" he asked in a very fatherly tone.

"Uh, heh, see, it's still in the works, what we're going to do… Just like my music career! In the works, but totally going to happen, you know?"

"Oh!" And suddenly his dad knew all, "Alright, well you boys have fun. Let me know when you're leaving and when you get back ASAP."

"Sure thing…" He was screwed.

oOo

'_Pick up the phone! Pick up the phone! Pick up the phone!!!'_

Roxas resisted the urge to smash the small device into the wall. Demyx was calling, he knew because the other retarded blond continuously set that ringer to his number, no matter how many times he changed it.

"What do you want?" he answered harshly, holding the phone to his ear with his shoulder as he continued to kill zombies.

The blond on the other line paid no mind to the edge in Roxas' voice, _"Argh! Roxas you've gotta help me! I messed up and told my dad—"_

"Nope, I'm busy, call Axel; he likes you more right now." And with that he snapped his phone shut and tossed it onto his bed.

He blew off the head of another zombie with a shotgun, a pleased smile forming across his lips as he pretended it was a certain other obnoxious blond.

oOo

Axel groaned as the house phone rang, the shrill sound echoing throughout the house. "Mom, can you get that?" he shouted after about two rings. There was a murmur and the ringing stopped followed by a polite, "Good afternoon, Demyx, I'll put him on the phone right away."

His mom came in the room and handed him the phone. She smiled and left him to his conversation. "Yeah?"

"_Hey Axel, I need some help. And no, I can't call Roxas, he already hung up… So, pleeeaaaase help me?"_

The redhead sighed, sat up and flicked the T.V. off with the push of a remote button. "Alright, what'd you do this time?"

"_I didn't do--! Okay, so my dad was being all weird again and was telling me that after graduation we should hang and find me some gigs and oh my god it was horrible! So I told him that after graduation me, you and Rox were all going to do something… and uh, we have to be gone for at least a week, two weeks max… I don't want to hang out with him!! Help!"_

Axel did his best to digest everything his friend was saying. He, Roxas and Demyx had been tight friends since they were in diapers. "So you're basically telling me that you want to disappear for a couple weeks and you used me and Rox as an excuse… again?"

"_Uh, yeah… I guess."_

The redhead groaned. Demyx and his shenanigans… "Okay, so what do you propose we do? Road trip?"

"_Ehhhhh, we did that last time…"_

"Stay at the condo by the beach?"

"_Ehhhhh, we did that the time before last time…"_

"Stay with Uncle Reno and party 'till we drop?"

"_Ehhhhh, we did that the time bef—"_

Axel growled a little in the phone, "Dammit Demyx, I'm trying to give you ideas! Work with me here."

The voice on the other line sighed, _"Yeah, yeah… We should do something totally different though… Something cool." _Axel frowned. He thought hanging out at the beach or partying each night was pretty cool… _"Oh, oh, oh! Why don't we go camping! It'll be awesome! You know, three dudes, total wilderness, surviving on instinct – and park rangers. C'monnnn it'll be fun pleeeaaaassseee-ahhh?!"_

"Dude, what? Camping? Are you sure about that? I don't mind really… but what about Roxas? Do you think he'll go along with it?" he asked uncertainly. He really didn't mind camping, he'd done it a few times before with Reno, but then again you really couldn't call it camping…

Demyx laughed, _"Yeah! Just do that thing where you make Roxas do things he doesn't want to!"_

Axel gave a short laugh of his own. "Well, alright, how about we all meet up tomorrow and get this all planned out… According to what you're telling me, we only have three days to do this. Not counting today of course."

"_Suh-weet! Thank you, thank you, thank you! I swear you and Rox are like, my best friends _ever_!"_

"Yeah, yeah. I'll come pick you up tomorrow, probably around noonish, so we know Roxas will be at least half awake."

"_Sure thing! Buh-bye!"_

"Later." He hung up the phone and rolled off the couch to put the device back on its charger. Hooray for the invention of cordless phones, but seriously is what they needed was an everlasting cordless phone, no charging or moving required… and a self pager that went off whenever the phone thought it was lost… or something.

"Hey mom? Me, Roxas and Demyx are going camping next week. We'll be gone for a couple weeks this time."

oOo

Roxas groaned inwardly at his mother's shrill voice. "Roxas! You have a visitor!" He mimicked her words with a scowl. It was probably just Axel or Demyx -- he didn't know why she always had to announce that he had _visitors_. It was so annoying.

He didn't bother to look up when someone sat next to him on the small, plush couch. "Hey," he said distractedly as he killed more Demyx-Zombies. He could tell it was Axel already. Demyx would have smothered him by now.

"So yeah, I have a favor to ask and you wouldn't answer your cell."

Roxas paused his game and turned to face Axel, "I guess I didn't hear it go off… You mentioned a favor?" He knew he wasn't going to like whatever came out of the redhead's mouth next. A favor from Axel always was something along the lines of "I know you don't want to do this but…" and then he'd give him this look. God he hated "the look". That's what he referred to it as. It was like a hybrid pity pout merged with the most hopeful stare ever.

In short: he could never resist.

"Well, I know this isn't something you'd normally do, but…" Roxas mentally prepped himself. _Resist "the look", resist "the look"!!_

"But…?" He couldn't help it. He was curious.

"Well, we wanted to know if you'd like to go camping with us after graduation. Just the three of us manning it out in the woods, blah, blah, blah. Sounds fun right?" The redhead smirked at Roxas' nearly appalled face.

The blond gaped a moment before closing his mouth, "This was Demyx's idea, wasn't it? What's he trying to get out of this time?"

Axel laughed and leaned back into the cushions, "Mhmm, something about not wanting to hang out with his dad after graduation. Not sure about the details, I kinda tuned him out."

Roxas was about to stamp the idea with a big fat N.O., when his mother yelled up the stairs, "Roxas! I hope you two are planning on getting a job together! That way I know you'll at least _go_."

The blond shot Axel a glare as the other tried to hold back a snigger, "Shut up, idiot," he hissed. "Actually, mother," he shouted out, sending glares of hatred towards the redhead, "We're going to be gone for a while. Demyx has been planning this camping trip for _months _and I can't back out now." He sighed and kicked Axel in the leg, "And Axel says we'll go job hunting as soon as we get back, he promises you!" he tacked on quickly before the temperamental woman could say anything.

"Dude, shut up, no way!" Now it was Axel's turn to hiss and kick Roxas.

"It's fine with me then!" the woman nearly chirped up the stairs. Roxas stuck his tongue out in triumph at the redhead.

Axel groaned. "Sometimes I really hate you."

"It's mutual."

oOo

"Soooo…" Roxas said as he finally shut off his video game for the day.

"Soooo…" Axel repeated, just to be annoying.

"Why are you still here? I thought you just wanted to coerce me into going camping with you and Demyx and you'd be on your merry way."

Axel shrugged. "That was the original plan, but I decided it wouldn't hurt to stick around for a bit."

"Right," Roxas leaned back into the couch, a smirk playing on his lips, "You realize you've been dozing on and off for the past three hours?"

The redhead laughed and stretched himself out along the couch, using Roxas as a footrest, "What can I say? A growing boy needs his sleep."

Roxas mumbled something unintelligible under his breath. "The last thing we need is for you to keep growing." He sighed, "We're having dinner soon, so you can ask mother to join us if you want, but honestly, I think she's going through menopause. I have no idea what she's going to do next."

"Alrighty," Axel tilted his head back on the arm of the couch before yelling, "Hey Roxas' mom! Can I stay for dinner?!"

The blond tried to hold back a giggle as his mom yelled up the stairs in reply, "Yes Axel, you may." She sounded rather reluctant to Roxas.

"See," Axel said with a grin as he toed Roxas' chest with his shoe, "Problem solved."

"Whatever."

Dinner ran smoothly, considering that Axel was present. Luxord came upstairs, saw Axel, grabbed his plate and attempted to go back downstairs to eat there only to earn an earful from their mother. Luxord… didn't like Axel, to put it nicely. According to Luxord, Axel was a stain on society and yadda, yadda, dribble, dribble blah. Yeah, Roxas thought his brother needed to take a good long look in the mirror and find out who was the _real _stain on society.

When the awkward dinner was done the two teens retreated back to the safety of Roxas' room. "Hey Rox?" the redhead asked once they were seated on the comfortable couch once more.

"Yeah Axel?" he drawled, sifting through his massive stack of videogames.

Axel tilted his head and scanned the games as Roxas went through them, "Where's your dad at?"

Roxas shrugged, "Somewhere in Europe, he won't be back until next month."

"Oh… hey, hey, hey!!! That one! Let's play that one!" Axel dove for the pile and pulled out a single game, a grin on his face.

"Street Fighter Four? Why?"

Axel's grin widened, "'Coz I want to play as that one chick with those massive thighs! Chun-Li, or whatever. And you can see up her skirt… it's like looking up a dude's kilt only to find a vagina."

Roxas made a face, "That's so wrong… Just…" the blond was at a loss for words. "Whatever, let's play."

oOo

'_Pick up the phone! Pick up the phone! Pick up the phone!!!'_

Roxas grumbled and batted around his nightstand for his cell phone before grabbing it and snapping it open, "Yeah…?" he mumbled sleepily and nestled his head back into his overly warm pillow.

"_Oh my god, Roxas! Why didn't you tell me you were having a sleep over! I would've come!!! Not fair, why are you excluding me?!"_

"Dude… what?" Roxas asked with a confused sigh.

He could hear Demyx start fake crying. _"You, me and Axel were all supposed to get together today and make plans for camping… but nooo, it's noonish right now and no Axel, so I called his house and his mom said that he spent the night at your house and you didn't even bother to invite me?!"_

Wah, wah, wah, that's all Roxas heard, "Uh, one second Demyx." He pulled the phone away from his ear and tried to push himself up on his elbows, but someone grunted in pain when he did.

"Ouch, ughh, Roxas your elbows are sharp," Axel whined from beneath the blond, trying to push Roxas' elbows from his stomach. Roxas blinked, when did he get there? And is that why he was dreaming about his pillow breathing last night?

Quickly the blond sat up and smoothed down his hair. He put the phone back up to his ear as he sent the redhead a glare, "Yeah, sorry about that… It wasn't planned or anything, he just wouldn't go home."

"_Ohhh, okay. I got it, he does that here too! Ha ha."_

"Yeah… We'll be there to get you in about twenty…" he said as Axel sat up next to him, rubbing his intensely green eyes with his fists.

"_Okay!" _the other blond chirped, _"Buh-bye!"_

"Bye," Roxas said monotonously and hung up the phone. He fell back on his bed. God how he loved his bed, it was like lying on a fully stuffed silken pillow. He loved it; he'd saved up his allowance for the longest time to get the sheets and blankets. He knew Axel liked it too because the redhead always found a way to sneak in his bed when he spent the night, no matter how many times the blond told him to sleep on the couch or the floor.

"I call bathroom first," Axel said merrily and bounded off the bed. Roxas groaned. It was too early for excitement. He took a peek at his alarm clock… "What the _hell?_" he yelled, making Axel stop in his tracks and look at him curiously. "Since _when _is nine-forty-five _noon_ish?!"

Axel laughed, "You gotta get up anyway Rox, _you _promised Demyx we'd be there in twenty," he chided.

He hated the idea of camping already.

oOo

They picked up Demyx soon after, he jumped in the back of Axel's red four door Chevy, Dukes-style, laughing his head off when he finally seated himself.

The trio headed to their favorite haunt, the McDonalds that wasn't too far away from any of their houses. A few of their friends worked there over the years, so it was just a logical place to go. They went in, noisily as usual, waved to the manager, Kairi – she'd graduated last year – and took their normal seats in the back by the window. Axel and Demyx always had fun doing stupid things to the people who were in the drive thru line. Last time a poor old man watched as Axel pretended to yell at Demyx, while the tall blond pretended to sob and Roxas just sat there ignoring them both.

"I'm taking my break now!" they heard Kairi's familiar voice say. She sauntered to their table and took a seat in the empty space next to Demyx. It was nothing unusual. "Aren't you guys going to get anything? It's pretty rude to come to a restaurant and not order anything, burger joint or not."

Roxas mumbled something about needing caffeine. Axel laughed, "Well order something once your break's up," he said with a smug grin.

The auburn haired girl sighed, already knowing that that was what he'd say. "More work for me then," she drummed her fingers on the table, "So, what's up guys? Your graduation is coming up soon… Got any spectacular plans, as usual?"

Axel, Demyx and Roxas were quite known for going out and doing outrageous things. Things like skipping two weeks of school to go to Canada to party, which had been awesome, spend weekends at the beach; go skinny dipping in random people's homes in the next state over – completely random acts of rebelliousness. Not to mention that their families were pretty well off, so money for them was never a problem.

Demyx grinned hugely, "We're going camping!" he declared.

Kairi looked mildly surprised, "Isn't that… a bit _normal_ for you guys?"

Axel shrugged, "Who said there wasn't going to be lots of booze involved?"

"There better not be," Roxas snorted, "Last time you were drunk you tried to hump me because Demyx dared you to be a dog."

Both the redhead and blond blushed, "Meh, why were you sober enough to remember that?" Axel mumbled.

The auburn haired girl cleared her throat, "Well… okay, so where you going to go camping at?"

"Well, that part's still in the works," Demyx said and rubbed the back of his neck, "Does anyone have some ideas?"

Roxas shrugged. He could care less. Axel shook his head, "No idea."

Kairi tapped her chin, "Well, there's this place my dad goes camping once a year… He loves it… And well, you know him; he might as well be a mountain man."

Demyx hugged Kairi, "Yay! Where's it at and stuff? Tell Rox all the important things!" he babbled airily.

"Uhm, well, it's in Oregon about a… oh I think it's probably a six to seven hour drive from here… It's small… Really out there, like a huge forest. I think the nearest city is about twenty miles and the closest store is about ten. So you have to stock up before hand…"

"Kairi, your breaks over!" someone yelled from the kitchen.

Kairi shrugged and headed back to the register, the three boys in tow. They did promise to order something when her break was over. "I'll talk with my dad about it when I get off and I'll email you everything you need to know, okay Roxas?"

"Sure," he said and they ordered their usual. They returned to their table and Roxas began to think as he sipped on his McCafe Mocha. They weren't the best in the world, but hell, it was caffeine. Axel and Demyx were talking around mouthfuls of food about all the stupid stuff they'd be doing out in the woods. "First," Roxas began, popping their little bubble of joy, "Who's car are we taking?"

Demyx pointed to Axel. Roxas rolled his eyes, Demyx couldn't even drive yet. He was probably too lazy, that and he had Roxas and Axel to mooch off of whenever he wanted. Axel shrugged, "I don't care, and it gets pretty good gas mileage."

"Okay… How about a tent? Anyone have one?" Demyx and Axel shook their heads, Roxas sighed, "Me either…"

Axel grinned, "Leave that to me then."

Roxas pondered for a moment. "And according to Kairi, convenience is not an option, so we'll have to pack two weeks' worth of food, blankets and all that shit."

"Well…" Demyx said, putting on his thinking face, something that rarely happened, "We could just pool some money together and use that to buy supplies?"

"Dem, you're a genius. Have I ever told you that? Because you are," Axel said with a grin.

Demyx grinned too, making Roxas smile. Their happiness was always so contagious. "I say we set out day after graduation, go shopping and whatnot day before and of graduation, we can use tomorrow to pool everything together and make a list."

Roxas smiled. Finally, after so many years of trying to teach them common sense… it was finally working.

oOo

When Axel got home he immediately sought out his mom, his dad being at work. "Hey mom?" he said at last when he found her at the table, sketching something idly on a sheet of paper.

"Axel, welcome home honey. Did you have fun at Roxas'?"

He grinned, "As always."

She sighed, "I don't see why you don't just ask him out already," she drabbled to herself mostly, "You two are basically attached by the hips."

Axel blushed, "Ah, well… you see mom, Roxas isn't really… like that… you know?" He cleared his throat awkwardly, "Anyway, I was going to ask you a huuuuuuge favor." The redheaded woman quirked a manicured brow but nodded nonetheless. "You remember the camping trip I told you about? Well, we kinda need a tent… and we're pooling money for supplies, and I was wondering if you could help out?"

She seemed to mull it over before smiling lightly, "I'll give fifty dollars and buy you a tent," she said, Axel was about to clap his hands in triumph, "But on one condition."

"Uh, condition?" he asked slowly. Now this didn't happen often. He quelled his excitement and gave his mom his undivided attention.

"Yes, one condition. It's not that hard either. Promise me that when you leave for your trip; don't come back to this house without telling that cute little blond boy how you feel. You're driving me crazy with your 'supposedly' one sided love." She beamed at her son, who looked absolutely mortified.

He stuttered incoherently for a few moments before just letting his head fall to the table in defeat. This was so uncool.

oOo

Roxas and Demyx were both dropped off at the shorter blonds' house by request from the obnoxious blond. He wanted to play some videogames with his friend, and Roxas had no problem with that. Videogames were pretty much his life, along with his friends.

He made straight for his mother though, as Demyx took the familiar route to his bedroom.

"Hey mom, I was wondering…"

"No I'm not giving you any money. Now shoo, I'm busy." She gave him a pointed look and he scuttled off in defeat. What would she have done if he wasn't going to ask for money? Huh? What then? He groaned. Stupid mother.

He retreated to his room where Demyx sat, sifting through the ominous stack of games. "I'm stuck between Soul Caliber and Left for Dead," the blond admitted when Roxas sat on the couch in a slump.

"Left for Dead," he said. He desperately needed to kill more zombies now.

Demyx shoved said game in the console and they played in relative silence for a while. Well, if you could call Demyx's shrieks of joy and his screams whenever he was about to die silence, then yes it was dead quiet.

"Did you get anything from your mom?" Demyx asked after a while as the game loaded for a bit.

Roxas shook his head, "No, she completely blew me off, as usual."

The taller blond made a tsking sound, "You gotta have _something _to put in the pot you know." He paused for a moment, "Why not ask Luxord, he has a job, right?"

"Luxord?!" Roxas asked incredulously, "Like he'd ever give me anything, let alone money."

"Just ask him."

"You ask him."

"He's _your _brother!"

"Not by choice!"

Demyx frowned, "Fine, we'll go together. You big baby."

"Not a baby…" Roxas mumbled as Demyx drug him down into the basement where Luxord lived. Roxas groaned internally. Luxord was twenty three, he could move out at any time now.

They both shuddered at the intense temperature drop when they reached the bottom of the stairs. Luxord was draped over a recliner, mindlessly watching T.V. "What do you want?" he snapped as soon as he noticed them.

"Can I borrow twenty bucks?" Roxas asked indifferently. He had a bad feeling about this. A _really _bad feeling.

Luxord paused, almost gaping, "You're asking _me_ for money?" he questioned. They couldn't be serious. Slowly a grin spread across his face, "What're you going to do for it?"

"Roxas will do anything!" Demyx blurted. Roxas threw him a heated glare.

"Oh, in that case," he kicked his shoes off and curled his toes a bit, "Then give me a foot massage."

Both Roxas and Demyx recoiled at the sight of Luxord's bare feet. "Oh my god! When was the last time you cut your toenails?" Demyx thought he was going to throw up.

"You know, I'm not sure," Luxord drawled, "take care of that while you're at it."

Demyx looked like he was about to pass out or run for it, so Roxas grabbed his arm firmly. He got them into this mess so he was going to suffer too. "Show me the money first." Lazily Luxord grabbed his wallet from his back pocket and pulled out a twenty dollar bill, waved it around a bit and then stuffed it back into his wallet. "Demyx… You start the massage… I-I'll go grab the toenail clippers…"

"Oh god no, Roxas don't leave me!" Roxas gave the blond a look that he hoped said "It's your fault this happened so suck it up and massage my stupid brother's feet!!" Yeah, exactly that.

He went upstairs and into the bathroom to retrieve the toenail clippers, debating if he should take his time or if he felt bad enough to return soon for Demyx's sake. He descended the stairs in a mind numbing daze. He was going to be scarred for life.

Demyx was silently massaging Luxord's left foot while the oldest blond of the three sat watching T.V., a victorious grin plastered on his face. Hesitantly Roxas joined Demyx and began to trim the freakishly disgusting toenails. He swore is life just flashed before his eyes.

Finally after every nail was trimmed and the feet were massaged to Luxord's okay, Roxas got his twenty dollars and both teens rushed to the bathroom, washing their hands and arms until their skin turned pink.

"That was so disgusting!" Demyx shouted, "I'm going to have nightmares for the rest of my life!"

"I'm afraid to close my eyes," Roxas said as he applied more soap, "I need mind-bleach."

They washed up some more and headed to Roxas' room. They both just sat on the couch and blankly stared at the T.V. screen. They were both too traumatized to do much else. "I should probably go home… wanna give me a ride?"

Roxas shrugged, still afraid to even blink, "Sure."

oOo

The blond had no idea what possessed him to go to Axel's house after he'd dropped off Demyx. But he _really _didn't want to go back home. His fragile and innocent mind had been brutally beaten last time he was there. He couldn't go back now that he'd escaped.

He knocked loudly on the thick wooden door, not even batting an eye when Axel's mom opened the door with a flourish. "Roxas, it's nice to see you again honey," she said with her usual bright smile. He gave her a weak smile back. "Come on in, come on in. Axel's in his room. Let me know if you need anything."

"Thank you," he said in a small voice before hurrying to Axel's room. He stopped briefly in front of Axel's closed bedroom door. Please don't be jacking off… he thought desperately. He'd been through enough in one day. He opened the door quickly, went inside and closed it silently behind himself.

"Roxas?" The blond looked up to see Axel laying on his bed, a book propped on his chest, "What're you doing here?" Axel stood up, setting the book down before walking up to Roxas with a concerned look in his eyes. "Something happen? What's up?"

Slowly the blond lifted his hands to cup Axel's face. They both swore their hearts stopped for a second. "I…" Roxas trailed off, "I… I-I…"

"You…?" Axel hoped he didn't sound as hopeful as he thought he had.

Roxas took a deep, shuddering breath, "I… I had to… to massage Luxord's feet…"

Axel's eyes widened considerably as he digested the information. Suddenly he ripped his face away from Roxas' hands, "Sick! With your hands? I need to wash my face." He began to rub his face and ran to the bathroom.

Roxas was torn between erupting into laughter or to bash his head repeatedly on the wall until his brain turned to mush. Instead he just stared at the door before collapsing onto the bed that the redhead had been occupying, grunting when he landed on the upturned book. He pulled it out from under him and studied it a bit. _The Cather and the Rye_, eh? Didn't they read that in class? Why was he rereading it?

"Oh, uh, I was just reading that 'coz I was bored," the redhead pointed out nervously from the doorway. Roxas just set the book aside and stretched out on Axel's massive bed, which wasn't unlike his own – just bigger and had a more cottony feel to it. "So… Why are you here again?"

The blond buried his face in one of the many pillows. "I've been traumatized," he said, "I didn't want to go back home after dropping Demyx off, so I came here." He sat as Axel took a seat next to him, "Why? Is there a problem with me being here? I can go… it's alright."

"Oh, no, no, that's not what I meant," Axel said waving his hands around, "I was just curious, because well, it's only been about four hours since I saw you last." He chuckled.

Roxas smiled a bit before flopping back down on the bed, "It's like, every time I close my eyes I see his disgusting toenails and calluses… Not to mention the whole thing was Demyx's idea," Roxas pouted a bit as he continued on his rant, "Mother wouldn't give me money to pool, and Dem said I _had _to pool something so he dragged me down to ask Luxord for money… I'm never letting him talk me into anything ever again."

Axel laughed and laid down next to him, "It couldn't have been that bad, right?" The look the blond sent him told him that yes, yes it was. "Well, what do you want to do then?"

"I dunno," the blond mumbled, "sleep?"

That made Axel frown, "It's only nine… you can't possibly be tired."

Roxas rolled over and stared at the redhead. There was an awkward silence as they just stared into each other's eyes, "Well I don't appreciate being woken up at nine forty-five either."

"Touché, Rox, touché." The blond rolled his impossibly blue eyes that Axel just adored. "Want me to get an air mattress?"

"Depends," Roxas said, grinning slowly, "Do you want to sleep on the floor or do you want that air mattress?"

The redhead's eyes narrowed slightly, "You're not taking my bed," he said trying to hold back a smile. He needed to look menacing… or at least serious, serious would work too.

"And I'm _not _sleeping on the floor," the short blond said defiantly. They'd never had a problem with the sleeping arrangements before; they usually just shared the bed. Although that was always an unspoken agreement, they had never really talked about it before. "And air mattresses always deflate throughout the night so you might as well be sleeping on the floor."

Axel folded his arms, "Fine, then we'll share the bed." For some reason it just felt alien to hear those words. Axel could've sworn he saw a light tint on the blonds' cheeks before he looked away.

"Yeah, sure." He kicked off his shoes and socks before wiggling further into the bedding. He contemplated taking off his jeans for more comfort but quickly decided that it would be too awkward. A lot of things were too awkward between them nowadays and it confused the blond, but he just shrugged it off. Whatever it was would probably go away in time, so he really didn't have to worry.

The redhead sighed and went to his dresser to pull out two sets of pajamas. He kept one for himself and threw the other at Roxas. "I'll change in the bathroom," he said before walking out.

He went to the bathroom and closed the door tightly behind himself, moving to the mirror to take a long, hard look. Did he like Roxas?

Of course he did. Roxas was his best friend, and so was Demyx. But Demyx was the one who did all the stupid, thrill seeking, and just plain retarded stuff with him. Demyx made everything _fun_.

But Roxas… Roxas was always there to knock their heads together, he was their getaway driver, he was sensible. Roxas made everything _safe_. He was the one who thought things through, made everything happen without a hitch, the one who would secretly smile at his two friends when he thought no one was looking.

He got dressed quickly and snuck back into his room to find Roxas curled up on his bed sleeping soundly.

Yeah, he liked Roxas. But there was no telling if the short blond liked him back.

Silently he switched off the lights and clambered into bed with the blond. These were his favorite nights.

oOo

"Are we there yet?" Demyx called from the back seat, pushing a sleeping bag back onto the large pile of camping supplies in the seat next to him that they couldn't fit in the trunk.

Roxas turned around from the passenger seat and scowled. "Demyx, shut up. We haven't even left _town _yet."

It was the day after graduation. They'd gotten their diplomas, crashed a few parties and had finished packing for their trip. Axel's mom had been the most helpful, as was Kairi. She'd emailed Roxas everything he'd needed to know and then some. Axel's mom on the other hand had bought the tent, wrote up a list of non-perishable groceries, and told Axel that if things got rough to charge on his debit card and she'd handle the expenses.

Roxas wished his mom was cool like Axel's.

Turned out it was an eight hour drive to the campsite – they'd already made reservations – and the nearest city was a two hour drive, while the nearest convenience store was a thirty minute drive. They'd brought along a can of gas, just in case.

"But I'm bored!" Demyx whined. He fiddled a little with his seatbelt before sighing dramatically.

The shorter blond snorted, "Read a book," he suggesting, knowing full well he'd get shot down.

"No way!"

Axel laughed, "Go to sleep."

Demyx groaned, "I would," he said irately, "but that stupid thing is so annoying!" He pointed to the in-car GPS, the kind with the woman's voice always nagging about turning here in so and so miles.

"It's better than getting lost," Roxas pointed out. Even if the little piece of technology was annoying, it was amazingly accurate.

Roxas sighed and pulled a backpack out from by his feet and handed it to Demyx. "Here, it has my DS and PSP along with my games. Entertain yourself. Break anything and I'll break you."

The taller blond grinned and snatched up the bag, "Yes! Thanks Rox, you're the best."

Roxas only nodded before returning to staring out the window. This was going to be a long car ride.

oOo

Axel pulled into a gas station at about the third-way mark. "Alright Rox, your turn to drive for a while," he said with a grin, "But first I need to stretch, my butt is numb."

Roxas made a face as both he and Demyx got out of the car and headed into the little shop.

"Good afternoon sirs," the woman behind the counter said with a friendly smile.

Demyx grinned, "Hi! Do you guys sell Gummi Worms here?"

The short blond just rolled his eyes as he grabbed two Mountain Dews, a bag of honey roasted peanuts and a box of Hot Tamales. His and Axel's usual driving snacks. He placed the items on the counter, Demyx right behind him, shoving his things up there as well.

Roxas paid for the food and gas while Demyx chatted up the clerk. When they were finally out of the store Roxas sighed, "Geeze Dem, you're such a fruitcake."

"Whaaaat? Me?" Demyx asked dramatizing every word, "Why would you say such a thing?"

Axel smirked from his spot beside the car, taking Roxas' burden as they approached, "Probably because you are."

Demyx made a little pouting face before ducking back into the car with a whatever. Axel chuckled and made his way to the passenger seat, scooting it back to accommodate his legs. Roxas sighed as he sat in the driver's seat and pulled it forward. "Freaking giant," he muttered, giving Axel a stare. "You might as well just sit in the backseat with how far back that seat is."

The redhead grinned, "It's not my fault I was blessed with these long, sexy legs."

Roxas made a face while Demyx let out a barking laugh, "Yeah right!" Demyx shouted, "More like hairy."

"Like you're one to talk!"

Roxas tuned them out as he started the ignition. A very long car ride indeed.

oOo

"Dude, Rox," Demyx said after a good hour or two of driving. He shook the driver seat when he got no reply, "Roxasss!"

"What?" Roxas snapped; his eyes on the road.

Demyx made a whining sound in the back of his throat, "Rox, I _really _gotta pee!"

The shorter blond looked to the redhead for help, only to find that the other had dozed off. "Can't you hold it in until the next rest stop?" he asked quietly.

"No, I gotta go _now_."

Roxas groaned, "What? Do you want a bottle or something?"

"Ew! What? No! Just pull over!" As soon as the car came to a stop Demyx scrambled out and ran down a slight hill, hesitating slightly to look back at Roxas.

The short blond rolled down his window, "Just go!" he said loudly, "It was your idea. No one is going to pull over and watch you."

As if comforted by this knowledge Demyx quickly did is his business and hurried back into the car.

"You're impossible…" Roxas muttered once they were on the road again.

Demyx grinned, "But you love me anyway."

oOo

It was the last two and a half hours of the drive when Axel regained the wheel. Roxas had a headache and Demyx was in the back simply chanting 'bored, bored, bored' as he messed around on one of Roxas' games.

"Sooo…" Axel finally said after an hours' worth of driving. "Who's excited?" he asked lamely. He knew he wasn't, because as soon as they got there they had to set up camp before they could crash.

Both Roxas and Demyx gave a little half shrug, indicating that they too were probably thinking the same thing. "Take this exit;" Roxas said suddenly, "This is where we get our last fill on gas without getting too far from the interstate."

Axel nodded and did as he was told.

oOo

The campsite was exactly as Kairi said it was. Isolated. It was a heavily forested area, with a small lake and few campsites with those little grills and picnic tables. There were probably about ten to fifteen spots spread out in the huge area.

They'd arrived just after five o'clock, so the sun was still up, just beginning its descent. "Sure is pretty," Axel pointed out as they began unloading the tent and sleeping supplies from the car.

"Yeah," Roxas mumbled in agreement and shouldered a pack. Demyx only nodded as he hoisted up the tent and went off to find a suitable spot. "This place isn't bad," Roxas went on, "for fifteen dollars a night."

"Guys, guys! Over here! Let's put the tent here!" Demyx called out from a little ways off, waving. He stood between a couple of huge oak trees that created a small clearing before it turned into forest.

Roxas and Axel lugged the supplies over to the blond, "Eh," Axel said, peering into the forest, "Are you sure you want it that close to the forest? I mean, I don't have a problem with it but…"

Demyx just waved it off, "It'll be fine! What's there to be scared of? The lady said that there really wasn't any wildlife beyond birds and bugs in these parts." He tapped his head, "Remember?"

"I'm just surprised that you were actually listening," Roxas said as he set down his burden.

"Yeah, I wanted to make sure that there weren't any wolves, otherwise I'd sleep in the car." The taller blond laughed as they began to set up the large tent. It wasn't anything horribly special. Just that typical shade of blue with two openings, each with a bug net and a tarp flap. Inside the tent was a divider with another zippered door. It was spacious enough to house all three teens, their sleeping gear, and still have plenty of elbow room.

It didn't take them long to get it standing upright properly and pegged down securely. Axel's mom had made them practice in their backyard a couple of times, in case they needed to hurry. Demyx and Axel busied themselves with setting up the inside of the tent while Roxas rifled through the food and started on dinner.

And by dinner he meant ham and cheese sandwiches with potato chips on the side. He was no chef and didn't really feel like trying to start a fire or anything. Maybe he would tomorrow, when he didn't feel all drowsy and lazy from the car ride.

"Wow Rox," Axel said as they sat down to eat, "I bet you're real handy in a kitchen, huh? Oh, master of the sandwich."

Roxas scowled, "Eat it or starve. Your choice."

oOo

It was dark by the time they'd gotten everything organized to Roxas' standards and they were beat. There was nothing like an eight hour car ride to tire you out. Each one took their turns getting dressed, brushing their teeth, and doing their business a little further into the woods before huddling into the tent.

It was mid-May, so the days were warm and brisk and the nights were still clear and cold. They'd set up one room in the tent as the sleeping room, and the other held their clothes and a few other miscellaneous items. Everything else was locked up in the car.

Demyx and Roxas had set up their sleeping bags on either side of Axel, the redhead being a living furnace. They snuggled up to him without trying to look overly gay and settled in to sleep.

Within no time flat Demyx was snoring softly. Axel moved closer to a shivering Roxas. "Dude!" Roxas whispered over his shoulder, "Are you trying to _spoon _me?"

Axel immediately stopped his movements, "What? No! I'm just trying to get comfortable and you were shivering." He frowned. What if Roxas was a homophobe or something and would never even look at him again if he showed his true colors? A life without the feisty blond would be a bleak one.

"Oh," Roxas said shortly. He stilled for a good moment before backing closer into Axel's front. "Thanks," he murmured, "its freezing."

The redhead gave a quiet laugh, resisting the urge to wrap his arms around the blond. "No problem. What're friends for?"

oOo

That morning they ate Honey Buns and Minute-Maid lemonade for breakfast. Everyone was too tired to really care.

When everyone finished they just sat around the picnic table, sipping their lemonade. "So, what do you plan to do while we're here, Dem?" Axel asked as he watched Roxas stare out into the lake.

Demyx shrugged. "No idea," he grinned at the disbelieving look Roxas sent to him, "I just wanted to get away."

"What the hell Demyx?" Roxas groaned, "We could've just gone to the beach!"

"But we went there a few months ago," the tall blond whined, "Besides, two weeks without technology and other people won't be so bad…"

"Oh, of course not. It's just like being shipped off to a delinquent camp in the mountains, hooray!" Roxas cheered sarcastically.

Axel laughed nervously, as Demyx gave a pout, "Let's not fight about this and just have a good time, alright? Rox, you brought plenty of games and car chargers, right? You'll live. And I have books, and Dem has crayons. We'll survive." He looked around hopefully, "And if all else fails, we can go get some booze!"

Roxas rolled his eyes, "And with who's ID? Reno's not here, remember?"

That seemed to put Axel out for a moment, "Ah, well… Dem has crayons."

Roxas snorted. "Fantastic."

oOo

They decided to check out the woods. 'A little adventure' Demyx had called it. Roxas wasn't pleased, but he went along anyway, as usual. They ran across a small brook with a miniature waterfall trickling pleasantly and decided to hang out there. They took off their socks and shoes and waded in it for awhile.

Roxas sat beside it and stuck his feet in the ice cold water. But it'd felt good on his weary feet. Axel and Demyx had rolled up their pants and were attempting to catch tadpoles. Roxas watched them carefully for a while before giving up and joining them in their hunt. He was more prudent in his movements, unlike the other two who were splashing around yelling, "Oh! There's one! Catch it! Catch it!!"

He moved a ways from them and crouched lethally, waiting for a tadpole to swim by his motionless feet. When he saw one darting around he snatched at it and missed. After a few more tries he caught one in cupped hands. It was a weird sensation to have it squirming around in his hands. He stood and made his way over to his friends, who'd long given up on catching tadpoles and were leisurely sitting beside the brook.

"Demyx, stay still, okay?" he said in a serious voice. Demyx looked up at him, a near frightened look on his face. "Just stay still, you have something on your back, don't move."

"O-okay!" Demyx said, sitting stock still just as Roxas had told him to. The short blond moved behind Demyx, Axel watching him curiously. He moved his cupped hands and the squirming tadpole to the collar of the blonds' shirt before suddenly depositing the small creature down Demyx's shirt.

Demyx let out the most girly squeal either Roxas or Axel had ever heard. "Eeek!! Oh my god, oh my god! What is that!? It tickles, oh my god!!" He was already running around in the brook, tugging at the back of his shirt. Axel was rolling on the ground in laughter as Roxas stood with a triumphant look on his face.

When Demyx was sure that whatever it was was out of his shirt he calmed down and sat next to Axel, smacking the other's chest for laughing at him. "Dude, Rox, what the hell did you put down my shirt?"

Roxas smiled, "A tadpole," he said as he too sat down by the brook side.

"Oh, sick! I knew it was wiggling! Gross!" he pointed an accusing finger and the smaller blond, "Rox," he said, "You're gross."

Axel snorted, "You're just mad that he was able to catch one while you couldn't."

Demyx frowned, "Nuh-uh!" he started to pout, "Why do you always take Roxas' side? It's not fair."

"Because Roxas usually has a point," Axel pointed out with a smirk. Demyx only pouted further and Axel gave him a sympathetic look, "Hey, I agree with you when you're right!"

The tall blond brightened at this, "Yeah!" his stomach growled, "Eh, maybe it's time for lunch," he said with a laugh.

Roxas fetched his socks and shoes, "Yeah, Axel can make hotdogs."

And with thoughts of delicious food they departed for camp once more.

oOo

That night they curled up in the tent for warmth, tired and sore from spending most of their day hiking about in the forest. They had decided they would check out the lake tomorrow. Roxas really didn't like how cold it got at night, but it was good for the ice in the coolers that they had set out in the shade. It made it so the ice lasted longer and they would only have to make the thirty minute trip every three days or so.

And he really did appreciate Axel sharing his abnormal body heat, but it made him nervous that the redhead always decided to face Roxas instead of Demyx. He wasn't sure if it was because Demyx had already yelled at Axel for spooning him or if it was because Axel wanted to spoon Roxas.

He didn't know and thinking about it only made it more awkward.

He fell asleep and it was morning before he wanted it to be.

They ate about three cereal bars each before Demyx decided to go see the lake.

"Do you think we could swim in it?" he asked excitedly as they made their way down to the blue waters twinkling in the morning sun. Roxas was slightly in awe every time he went outside before ten o'clock – which was rarely. So it was strange for him, sleeping at around nine and waking up at about six. But at the same time it was pleasant and it was obvious the other two thought so as well.

"Probably not," Axel said with a shake of his head, "Not until mid-June or July. It's probably freezing right now."

This piece of information seemed to put Demyx out for a moment. "Ah, well that's too bad. Oh! We could go fishing, although I only brought one rod." He laughed. They stood on the bank of the lake, which was kinda more like a pond; little shoots of cattails were springing up next to lilies both old and new floating about lazily.

Roxas knelt down and stuck his fingers in the water only to pull them out hastily. "Shit, that's cold," he stammered. He was definitely more awake now.

"Bummer," Demyx said and sat down next to Roxas, Axel quickly following suit. They sat back and just enjoyed the scenery. Demyx began to hum a little tune before making a small gasping sound, "Hey, do you guys think that other people might come and camp too?" he asked, a hopeful look in his eye.

Axel shrugged. "It's possible, but I don't really think its camping season." Not that he was complaining about the cold weather. He quite liked snuggling with Roxas.

Demyx laughed, "Yeah, they'd have to be crazy like us."

"Crazy like _you_," Roxas corrected.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," the tall blond said with a wave of his hand, although his smile was still present. "What do you guys wanna do for the rest of the day? I think I'll try fishing tomorrow. But right now, I feel artistic," he laughed, "I'm going to go color."

Axel and Roxas didn't move as the blond stood and made his way back to the campsite. Although Roxas was curious as to what Demyx would draw. The taller blond was really talented; art, music, stuff like that.

"Hey Rox?"

"Hm?"

Axel paused a moment, fighting for words. "I… You… Uh well… I-I… It's really pretty, isn't it?" he said lamely. He couldn't do it. He was too scared.

Roxas sighed and threw a little pebble into the lake. "It's depressing."

"Depressing? How?" Axel took a moment to gaze at Roxas' forlorn look as the blond looked out over the lake and into the woods on the other side.

The blond gave a half shrug, "You know… This is the kind of scene you see in a photo in like, National Geographic. It's just really sad that we have to drive eight hours and pay fifteen bucks a night just to be here. I just think it takes the beauty out of it. The way we use something this beautiful, when there once was a time when a place like this was a home, how it was everywhere. And we destroyed it." He looked over at Axel a thin smile on his face, "It's just depressing to think about."

Axel snorted good-naturedly, "Hippie."

"Shut up. I am not." Roxas gave him a half hearted glare, "You're the one that asked."

"You didn't have to tell me."

"Why wouldn't I?" the blond asked curiously, leaning back to look into Axel's face better.

The redhead flushed a little, "Uh well, I don't know. I was just pointing it out…"

Roxas laughed a little in the back of his throat, "Okay. Hey, what books did you bring?"

oOo

Much of the day was spent leisurely. Demyx drew, Roxas read and Axel played some games before picking up a book of his own. They ate hamburgers with pickle slices for lunch. Demyx also had applesauce, because he really wanted it.

"Uh, guys, aren't there showers around here somewhere?" Demyx asked, suddenly. The sun was just starting to dip down into the sky.

Roxas shrugged, but Demyx had a point. He felt really grimy. "Actually," Axel said, "I think I saw one when we were coming on our way in, off in the trees over there." He waved vaguely to a few trees.

"Sweet." The tall blond stood and began to search in the general area of where Axel had waved off to.

Roxas gave the redhead a doubtful look, "Are you sure it was a shower stall and not just more bathrooms?" And thank god there were bathrooms.

Axel grinned. "I'm not."

The blond gave a roll of his blue eyes.

"Hey guys! There's a shower here!" Demyx called as he approached them quickly, a grin on his face. "It's only one stall, but it's better than nothing!"

Hurriedly Demyx grabbed the shower supplies and put on his pair of flip-flops as if someone was going to steal the one stall shower if he didn't get there fast enough. Neither Axel nor Roxas planned on moving anytime soon.

That night they all smelt of lilac bar soap as they snuggled together. Not that Roxas minded, he thought it was rather pleasant as he drifted off to sleep that night, snugly wrapped in his sleeping bag with Axel close behind him. It was nice.

oOo

"We need to head to the store today," Roxas said when he opened the coolers to grab some drinks for breakfast. "It's all water now."

Axel sighed. "'Kay."

"I'm not going with," Demyx said, "I'm going to go fishing, and well yeah. Maybe we can eat whatever I catch!"

The redhead shrugged, "Whatever floats your boat, dude."

The blondes exchanged looks. Demyx seemed to say something with his eyes and Roxas nodded. Axel felt a little left out. Like they had gone and learned some kind of eye language and didn't teach him just to be mean.

Demyx shoved the last part of his cereal bar in his mouth and stood up, "M'kay, imam fro frishin now," he said with his mouth full.

Roxas tugged on Axel's arm. "C'mon, let's get ice before everything goes bad."

"Alright."

The redhead clambered into the passenger seat and Roxas started up the car smoothly. They drove in silence for a few minutes before Roxas finally looked to Axel. "What's up with you today?" he asked bluntly.

Axel blinked a couple times, "Uh, well, nothing really. Just kinda tired."

"Tired?" the blond looked slightly worried, "I'm sorry, did I keep you up or something?"

He laughed merrily, "Nope. I just had a lot on my mind last night, so I just didn't sleep well."

Roxas made an 'O' shape with his mouth in understanding. The conversation lulled and Roxas squirmed in his seat a little bit. "Uh, well… if you want to, uh, _talk_," he said it as if it were like swallowing poison, "about it… I'll… listen or whatever."

Axel barked out another laugh, "Rox, you and sensitive don't really go well together, but thanks, I'll keep that in mind."

The blond gave a nod that seemed to say 'good enough'.

The rest of the ride was mostly in silence. They talked about this and that, pointing out things here and there, Axel occasionally commenting on how that flower looked depressing, or how the way the trees arced over the dirt and gravel road made him sad. Roxas had hit him for that, although he knew it wouldn't stop the redhead. Not in the least.

The convenience store was a tiny little place with little signs that said 'Bait', 'Food', and 'Ice'. The woman tending the shop almost looked surprised to see them. They just bought two eight pound bags of ice and were on their way.

Roxas was almost worried about what havoc Demyx could cause when left alone for even an hour.

"You worry too much," Axel said, as if reading the blonds' mind. "Dem's fine. If anything, he got bored of fishing and decided to draw."

Roxas just rolled his eyes. He did that a lot Axel noted. But he didn't mind, Roxas had the most amazing blue eyes. He wondered what Roxas thought about his eyes…

When they got back to camp, they found Demyx still fishing by the lake, laying comfortably by the shore with pole in hand. They busied themselves with the task of dumping and refilling the coolers and let Demyx be. By the look on the other teens face, he was in some sort of meditation. And he always got pissy if you broke it.

"So what should we do today?" Axel asked as they got comfortable in a pair of lawn chairs.

Roxas thought for a moment. "I want to go back to that brook, maybe start a campfire today… eat marshmallows."

Axel gave him a strange look. "The brook? Why? Want to catch more tadpoles?"

The blond merely shrugged, "Don't come if you don't want to. I just think it's a nice place."

"Aw, Rox I'd follow you to the ends of the world!" Axel said with a laugh, "Who else is gunna keep me out of trouble?"

Roxas couldn't help but to smile as he stood from his chair. Honestly he kinda hoped that Axel wouldn't follow him. He had something on his mind today and wanted some alone time to think, and one of his biggest flaws was that he tended to think out loud. He hated it, but at the same time it was how Demyx and the redhead knew him so well.

So when Axel got up to follow him he cursed mentally. They made the short trek to the little waterfall in silence. Roxas peeled off his socks and shoes and stuck his feet in the water. He had to admit, it was relaxing.

But now for his problem. These stupid feelings he'd been having for a while now towards a certain redhead that was now seated next to him, feet in the water as well. He wasn't sure if he should be surprised that this was happening or not. It's not like he couldn't see it happening, but it was strange, and he was afraid of what the redhead might say if he brought it up.

"What would you say… if I told you I liked someone?" he asked, watching his toes wiggle under the clear water's surface.

Axel felt his heart catch in his throat. Maybe he shouldn't have followed Roxas after all. "Uh, well… I'd say… Uh, who's the lucky girl?"

Roxas shook his head, "No… I meant, how'd you _feel_?"

"What?"

"Well," he watched the redhead closely, "Would you get angry? Upset? Mad that this person came in and stole me away from you and Demyx. _Jealous _that they had my attention and not you?"

Axel's eyes widened. He was completely afraid of where this was going. He sputtered, and he just knew his cheeks were starting to redden, either way he denied everything profusely, "N-no way! Why would I do that? That's ridiculous. I mean, please, me? Jealous? As if."

Roxas smiled slowly. "Oh, I see." He put his socks and shoes on slowly, seeming to be in deep concentration. Finally he stood up and looked down at the flustered redhead. "What would you do… if I said that someone was you?" he asked quietly.

"Huh?" Axel looked up only to see that the blond was gone already, scurrying off into the woods. He sat there a few moments longer, trying to digest everything. "That someone is me?" he asked himself, not daring to believe it, but had no other choice to.

When he got back to camp Roxas was sitting in the lawn chair, absorbed into the videogame he was playing, blatantly ignoring the redhead as he sat down next to him. Axel was okay with that though. What was he supposed to say to Roxas? What if he'd heard him wrong or it was all just sick joke – although he was pretty sure Roxas wasn't low enough to do that. How was he supposed to know?

A girlish squeal snapped both Axel's and Roxas' attention to Demyx. The blond was jumping around on shore, a decent sized fish swinging from the end of his line. He scrambled up to the two sitting teens and nearly shoved the flapping fish in the smaller blonds' face.

"Look, Rox, look! Can we eat it?"

Roxas tried not to get irritated at the delighted sound in Demyx's voice. "Sure," he drawled, "If you can gut it."

That made Demyx pause. He looked to Axel but the redhead just shook his head. "Uh… I'm going to throw it back? Okay? I hope it'll be fine," the tall blond said quickly before rushing back to the lake and freeing the suffocating fish.

As he was making his way back up the slight hill towards his companions, there was a foreign sound. All three teens looked to the road to see a forest green sedan driving up the road slowly. Roxas quickly lost interest and shoved his nose back in his game. Axel and Demyx continued to stare and an enthusiastic brunet in the passenger seat rolled down his window and stuck a head and his arm out, waving furiously.

"Hi guys!" the brunet called in a singsong voice, "My name's Sora!!"

Roxas suppressed an eye roll as Demyx began jumping up and down, waving just as enthusiastically. "Hiii Sora! I'm Demyyyx!!"

The blond heard Axel snort from beside him. It made him nervous; to have Axel so close after he'd practically bared his soul to the tall teen. But Axel was acting as if nothing had happened. And maybe that was for the best.

By the time the two other guys got out of their car Demyx had thoroughly introduced himself and let out a few fun facts like: Axel and Roxas were his best friends, he'd just caught a fish, his favorite color was blue, he liked to color, and he thought it was weird that it got really cold at night.

Sora on the other hand didn't seem phased in the slightest. He'd introduced himself and Riku, the silver haired guy that was driving, told Demyx that his butt hurt from sitting for eight hours, and that he was surprised there were other people camping at this time of year and his favorite color was blue too!

"They'll get along just fine," Axel commented offhandedly. Roxas merely nodded, making the redhead frown. Where did his persnickety little Roxas go? This was rather depressing. "Hey Rox… I just wanna say that—"

"Axel! Roxas! C'mere and meet these guys!" Demyx yelled. Begrudgingly Roxas snapped his DS closed and stood waiting for Axel to follow merely out of habit. He gave a little wave as they approached and Axel smiled broadly.

"Hi," Axel said smoothly, extending a hand, "Name's Axel. A-X-E-L."

The brunet was confused for a second before he took Axel's hand. "I'm Sora. S-O-R-A." Axel raised a brow. He only spelt his name out because people tended to mishear him. Axel really wasn't a common name. "And this," Sora motioned to the silver haired teen, "is Riku. Uh, R-I-K-U."

Demyx suddenly barked out a fit of laughter, "Dude! All your guys' names are four letters, except for me and Rox."

And that was how they became to know Sora and Riku. They'd found out that the pair actually lived in a city close to theirs called Destiny. Axel found it all to be a little ironic.

But the next two days were pretty much spent chatting with the new additions to the campgrounds. Roxas felt horrible at night when Axel would turn around and face Demyx. It was no less warm, but it was saddening. And to make matters worse, Demyx noticed that there was something wrong between the two friends and he continuously tried to "eye ask" Roxas what was wrong. He just pretended he didn't know what the other blond was talking about.

oOo

It was on the morning of the seventh day that Sora had enough of the awkwardness. He'd asked Demyx about it, but the blond didn't know either.

"Hey, Axel, Roxas," he greeted a little after breakfast; they both looked up from their respective books. "I was wondering if you guys would show me where that little brook is. You talked about it and I'm curious is all." He gave a shrug.

Roxas grumbled something under his breath. Oh, _someone _wasn't a happy camper this morning. "I'd ask Demyx, you know, but he and Riku went out to get ice."

And then Sora made a face that was almost similar to "the look", except it was completely innocent, watery blue eyes staring relentlessly, unblinking, a small pout…

"Fine, sure, no problem," Roxas groaned out. Why wasn't he immune to looks like that? Demyx was! Why couldn't he be too? He stood up and set his book down on the seat of the chair. "Axel, you don't have to come if you don't want to."

"Yes he does!" Sora blurted out, making Roxas and Axel look at him funny. The brunet smiled sheepishly, "Well… not to be rude, but, Roxas, you're scary."

Axel laughed. It was a sound that Roxas had missed hearing. "Yeah, he seems like that at first, but deep down he's a really good guy," the redhead said as he stood, setting down his book as well.

Sora grinned, "You two seem close," he pointed out as they made their way into the forest.

"You could say that…" Roxas said with a frown. When they made it to the little waterfall Axel declared that he was going to follow it upstream and see what he could find. The two blue eyed teens waved him off.

"So," Sora said, turning sharply to Roxas as soon as the redhead was out of earshot, "What's up with you two? You look like you'd rather be in the company of a diseased cow instead of each other, and yet you're attached by the hips. I don't get it."

"What's to get?" Roxas nearly snapped. This whole thing was his fault anyway. He should've never opened his big fat mouth and none of this would've happened. "I messed up our friendship; I think he just feels bad for me or something, so he hangs around. I dunno."

The brunet arched his brows, "Really? How did you manage that? From the sounds of it, you three have been through everything together, what makes this time different?"

Roxas gave Sora a glare. How nosy could a person get? Honestly. He debated telling the brunet snoop. What could it hurt? The only people he could tell were the ones here at this camp, and well, if it got out of hand he could always wreck the car on the way home and kill them all, and then no one would be left to care. "Well," he began softly, Sora leaned in a little closer, "I kinda told him that… that I _liked _him. You know? I don't know, I thought I was pretty vague, but ever since he's been all weird." Roxas heaved a heavy sigh. "He's probably really grossed out, thinking 'oh my god ew, Roxas is gay for me, nasty!'"

Sora's eyes widened. Oh, _please _don't be a homophobe. Roxas begged in his mind. That was the last thing he needed in the world. The brunet smirked suddenly, "Well, I'll have you know that I'm openly gay, so don't worry." Sora stuck a finger in front of his face, a grin plastered on his features, "Riku's my partner, but I don't think he'll mind if I flirt with you for a bit."

"W-what?!" Roxas stuttered. The conversation had just done a three-sixty in about two point five seconds.

The brunet laughed quietly, "I'll just flirt with you, okay? If Axel gets jealous or whatever, then good news. If not well then, no harm done really. It's just flirting… it won't kill you, I promise."

Roxas wasn't totally sure about that last part. Sora set his head on Roxas' shoulder and giggled softly when they heard Axel's footsteps heading back towards them. "Roxas," he cooed, "you're so funny."

"Uh, not really…" Roxas mumbled. Sora jabbed him lightly with an elbow.

Axel stood behind them and cleared his throat loudly. Roxas froze on the spot while Sora hugged him from the side and looked back at the redhead, his chin on the blonds' shoulder. "Yes?" Sora asked sweetly.

Axel sounded… uncertain to Roxas, "What are you guys doing?"

Sora smiled cutely. "Oh, me and Roxie," Roxas winced visibly but Sora didn't seem to notice, "Here are just getting a little familiar with each other." He hugged Roxas a little tighter. "Right, Rox?"

Roxas could only open and close his mouth. Words seemed to be beyond him at the moment. Finally he just let out a strangled "che" sound. This was too awkward. It was nerve wracking even. PDA like this made him nervous, even if it wasn't really in public. But Axel was enough public for him.

Suddenly the redhead grabbed a hold of Roxas' arm and yanked him into a standing position. "Let him go," Axel said angrily. "Can't you tell he's uncomfortable with you? Back off."

Sora stood up just as fast, "What's your problem?" the small brunet ground out. Roxas had to admit. Sora was one hell of an actor. "But what do you know? Huh? Roxas is totally into me."

"Ha! Yeah right! You called him "Roxie", he _hates _that. And he hates PDA, he thinks it looks sleazy," he said with fervor. "I… I would know! I've been his best friend since we were kids."

"So has Demyx," Sora pointed out, "And he said that this was a good idea!"

Axel snorted, "Dem doesn't know shit." The redhead was completely high on anger now, every word from his mouth pouring forth without a single regard, "Just know this: Roxas is _mine_."

A huge smirk spread over Sora's childish features while the forgotten blonds' eyes became as round as saucers. Then Sora broke out into a little childish victory dance, chanting 'I'm a winner, see my prize! You're a loser who sits and cries!' This, in all honesty, didn't make sense to the other two teens watching him. He pointed at Axel, "You called Roxas yours! This means you looooove him!"

"Dude, what? Love? Me…?" Axel almost looked offended, but when he saw Roxas' wide eyed gaze on him, he crumbled. "So what if I do?" he asked, just daring someone to challenge him.

Sora smiled and ceased his dance. "'Coz Roxas loves you too, retard," he chided.

Roxas covered his blooming blush with his hands and started to walk off in a random direction. He'd never been more embarrassed in his life. Not even when he was pantsed in the school cafeteria that one time. Being suspended for breaking someone's nose really was an accomplishment. But now he was dealing with _Axel _of all people, he couldn't just break _his _nose and everything would be normal again. Someone up there really hated him.

"Rox, Rox! Slow down for a sec!"

Against his will Roxas' feet stopped moving. Axel caught up to him easily and placed his hands on the blonds' shoulders peering into half covered, impossibly blue eyes. "Rox… I-is Sora for real?" he asked breathlessly. Why did the redhead run after him? He wasn't even walking that fast.

For a moment Roxas wasn't sure if he wanted to answer. But at the same time he was tired of this stupid, what seemed like, a wild goose chase. He nodded slowly, keeping the intense eye contact with the redhead; face still buried in his hands.

Axel gave a breathy sigh of happiness and crushed Roxas against him in a hug. He didn't know whether to be happy or really pissed off that they had to do everything the hard way. But he just settled on grateful. Because Roxas, the one who was rational, and sensible, the one who made things safe and flawless, the one he had loved for a long time now, was hugging him back tightly around the waist.

"Is this a dream?" Axel whispered as he bent his head over, his lips tickled by little wisps of blond hair. "Some kind of joke? …It's too amazing to be true."

Roxas gave a little throaty chuckle. He held Axel with one arm and used his free hand to pinch the tall redhead on the arm hard. "Ow!"

"Hmm, not a dream," Roxas commented offhandedly, "And you know I'd never joke about something like this."

Axel laughed, "Yeah, I'm just being paranoid." He kissed the top of Roxas' head tenderly, "C'mon, let's go back to camp before that airhead named Sora gets any ideas."

oOo

The rest of the day was rather uneventful. Although the new couple did find it strange that Demyx wasn't even surprised in the turn of events in the least. Said he'd always seen it coming and how this girl he knew, Naminé or something, saw it too and would draw pictures of them kissing and holding hands in art class. That news was disturbing by itself.

But that night Axel held Roxas in his arms, no longer afraid to hold himself back. And Roxas felt right at home, falling asleep with a smile on his usually downturned features.

oOo

"Wow guys, I can't believe it's time to go home already," Demyx said as he looked up into the sky, his hand on the car's door handle. "It's almost like we live here or something, you know?" It had begun to drizzle that morning, giving everything a damp scent and making it that much more difficult to pack up the tent.

Axel and Roxas were leaning against their allotted sides of the car. Roxas gazed off into the woods while Axel looked out over the lake.

It was going to be a while before they saw this place again – if they ever did. This place had done so much for all three of them.

"Yeah," Roxas replied in a dazed voice. Finally he broke the trance and opened his car door, the other two following suit. Sora and Riku had already depart two days ago, but not without an exchange of numbers and addresses. They really didn't live that far from them.

The car ride was silent and solemn, the crackling of the gravel under the car the loudest sound in the area. Roxas stared as the little convenience store passed by in its little pocket of woods. He was really going to miss this place. Now he had to go back to his stupid life back at home. His nagging mother, stupid, filthy, disgusting, troll of a brother, a job, starting college… He reached out and grabbed Axel's free hand. But at least now he had Axel, in a way he'd never had him before. He smiled.

"Ewwww!" Demyx wailed from the back seat, "You guys are going to make me sick!"

"What the hell Dem," Axel said, a grin on his thin face, "We're just holding hands."

The blond in the back made a face. "Yeah, but you guys are still my best friends. I don't need you two poisoning my mind by trying to be all cutesy."

"Oh?" Roxas said, turning in his seat to look at Demyx, "If you think this is like poison, you're gunna need mind-bleach for this one."

As if on cue Axel leaned in and gave Roxas a kiss before returning his eyes on the road. Demyx made like he was throwing up in one of the sleeping bags they hadn't bothered to roll up. "Gross… its one thing to see it drawn on paper, but _watching _it? Not even mind-bleach can save me now."

They laughed. It was almost as if it were the perfect ending to the most memorable trip they'd ever had… Next to partying in Canada with Reno. That was sweet.

oOo

"C'mon you two, keep up the pace! I know you think that just because you get the next week and a half off means you can be lazy now! Hop to it breaks over!"

Roxas grumbled at his auburn haired manager, while Axel motioned blowing his brains out. "Geez Kairi, cut us a little slack?" Axel moaned. They'd been working at their favorite McDonalds haunt for four months now, same hours and everything. And so due to Roxas' impeccable nature, they'd both never missed a day or were late from the very start – earning them a nice vacation.

"Nope! Now, back to the kitchens my little slaves!" she chirped as she manned the register once again.

They gave a collective groan and returned to their stations. They couldn't wait for vacation.

Reno was in Jamaica. And soon so would they be, along with Demyx, Riku, Sora and someone by the name of Zexion that Demyx had been talking about for a while. They'd been curious to meet him for a while now.

Axel smiled over at Roxas when their eyes caught. He was glad now that Demyx was a bad lair, and that they had gone on what seemed like a stupid camping trip in the middle of Bumfuck Egypt. And now they were going to be in Jamaica with booze and Reno and friends.

Maybe it would be better than Canada.

But nothing could beat camping.

oOo

**El Fin!**

I'm so proud. It's my first one-shot… haha. Anyway, thanks for reading! :D

_I was Rick Roll'd four times during the making of this fiction. FML. :(_


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